The latest twist to the CIF-Southern Section’s playoff procedures has drawn negative feedback from several coaches, including St. John Bosco’s Jason Negro and Long Beach Poly’s Stephen Barbee.

The section decided in the offseason to change the way the playoff brackets for Divisions 1 and 2 are put together by placing 24 teams into a hybrid Division 1 and 2. At season’s end, a selection committee will choose the top eight teams to play in an eight-team Division 1 playoff and the remaining 16 will be in the Division 2 bracket.

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The rationale, according to CIF-SS Commissioner Rob Wigod, was the disparity within the top two divisions, where certain leagues dominated the postseason. The power rankings devised to increase parity have been well-received, but the hybrid divisions are overkill as far as some coaches are concerned.

“I’m not a huge fan of the decision,” Negro said. “I understand the ultimate goal to create comparative equity, but I don’t think this breeds competitiveness. Right now, one could predict all Division 1-2 schools will be in the playoffs without having played a single game. I don’t believe in gifting teams opportunities. All six Trinity League teams could wind up in Division 1.

“It also creates motivational issues. If a team gets to week eight, nine or 10, they may look at the schedule and find themselves on the bubble and believe there’s no motivation to try and get a Division 1 bid when they know they can get a bid in Division 2.”

Negro also thinks an eight-team bracket eliminates one or two fewer opportunities for some teams to play a game. He thinks players at the highest levels want those opportunities.

“So we have one less Division 1 playoff game, and there wouldn’t likely be a sectional playoff game before a state title game,” he said. “Kids want these opportunities. In a way, it’s eliminating many good teams from the playoffs.”

Bosco played 29 games the last two seasons combined. They could play as few as 13 in 2019.

Barbee doesn’t like changes because the power ratings used to determine preseason rankings are skewed by Southern Section policy. Long Beach Poly currently ranks No. 21 in the two-division hybrid, essentially because its results against two L.A City teams last year didn’t earn the Jackrabbits any power points.

The CIF eliminates games between competing sections from the rankings, even though it does not eliminate intersectional games against teams from other states.

“One writer asked me if we would be disappointed to wind up in Division 2,” Barbee said. “That’s not the point. We’re ranked low because a decision was made to eliminate some games, which doesn’t seem logical.

“As for what division, Poly will always play to win a championship, regardless of what division they put us. But yeah, you always want to play among the best.”

As it stands now, there are 124 schools in the top eight divisions, and all but 25 will advance to the postseason. The number of playoff teams dwindles the further one goes down in the divisions.

Make up your mind already

Consider this Exhibit A for the way parents and players abuse the transfer system.

In 2018, CJ Montes played well as a true freshman at La Salle. In the offseason, he transferred to Arcadia, then changed his mind and was headed to Sun Valley Christian before he changed his mind again and enrolled at Poly.

After a rough season at Poly in 2018, in which he told teammates he was transferring before the season was over, he left the program and enrolled at Muir only to change his mind again and wind up at Paraclete.

For those scoring at home, that’s six schools in two seasons, and he’s just a junior.

Moschetti: Smaller league better

Mike Moschetti coached La Mirada for nine seasons before taking two years off and then returning this season to again become boss of the Matadores.

There was one big change while he was away – the Suburban League in 2018 switched from a seven-team league to four (La Mirada, Mayfair, Bellflower and Norwalk).

That means only three league games, and Moschetti is cool with that.

“We play seven preseason games, which I actually like,” said Moschetti, whose team opens Thursday against El Toro at Excelsior Adult School in Norwalk. “We get to play a bunch of preseason games and travel all over the place and get to see different schemes and different things.”

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